Salmon ruling may have wide effects SEATTLE (AP) - Bob Oke has seen this sort of fuss over endangered species before, back when the spotted owl was headline news. He says the federal protection just given to Northwest salmon is a much bigger deal. "Once the Endangered Species Act gets involved in protecting these salmon, we will think that all the hardship caused by the spotted-owl listing was nothing at all," said Oke, a Republican state senator from Port Orchard. The National Marine Fisheries Service listed nine salmon runs - seven in Washington, including the once-mighty Puget Sound wild chinook run, and two in Oregon - as threatened or endangered. It is a decision widely praised but one that could affect millions of people across the Northwest. See full story <http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558836946-1f8> Dog gets day in Vt. court SOUTH ROYALTON, Vt. (AP) - Not every dog has its day in court. Billy is an exception. Almost two years ago, the German shepherd broke her collar and ran away from her home in the town of Wolcott. A month later, another family adopted the dog from an animal shelter. Now Billy's original owners - represented by the American Civil Liberties Union - are fighting the shelter in Vermont's Supreme Court to get her back. And so, on Tuesday, a day in which the state's highest court heard arguments in a multimillion-dollar utility rate case, the five justices also listened to impassioned debate over the fate of the 6-year-old dog. The justices thought Billy's case was so interesting that they decided to hold the hearing at the Vermont Law School so students could attend. See full story <http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558832608-202>
